Today is our last day on board MV Tatawa on this manta safari. We begun the day early at 07:09 diving in The Cauldron. The water temperature was warm, approximately 27C, and good visibility. We’d heard reports of mantas being seen in The Cauldron, but we did not find any. We did see a bumphead parrotfish and two white tip reef sharks though!

Riza and Vidlia conduct a manta survey

After breakfast we dived on Castle Rock. This is a famous place, and is named because the bottom contour looks like a castle. This is the best dive site I ever been to, so many fish bigger than before schooling all around the divers. We saw many sharks, and encountered a juvenile Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus). We also saw many tourists and underwater photographers trying to take photos of the marine life!

Our last dive was at Karang Makasar. We had a target to take 10 manta ID photos, and before the dive we discussed what techniques and formations we could use to maximise our chances. Unfortunately we were unlucky, and only encountered one manta on a cleaning station. Even though we were not successful to get 10 ID photos, we learned a lot today. We now know the best formations to efficiently search for manta rays, and learned some underwater communication techniques. Andy said we are now beginning to look like a professional manta survey team!

Schooling fish on Castle Rock